Chip slip causes tech dip

CBS.MarketWatch.com

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Technology stocks may get a lift Friday following a strong earnings report from Oracle Corp., and the shares will need all the help they can get after their latest hammering on concerns about slower growth..

The Nasdaq Composite Index
$compq
dipped 34 to 2016 under the influence of technology losses, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.30%
fell 168 to 8842.

After the market closed, Oracle posted much better-than-expected fiscal second quarter results, saying it earned 28 cents instead of the 24 cents expected on Wall Street. Shares rose in after-hours trading. See full story.

Telecom meltdown

Ericsson (ERICY)
ericy
shed 4 3/4 points to 24 1/8 after the company said 1998 earnings and sales won't meet expectations. Analysts surveyed by First Call expected the company to earn 87 cents a share in 1998. The Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer blamed global economic weakness, and said it will announce substantial job cuts with its fiscal financial results.

"Semiconductor shares were undervalued going into October, but concerned that the market's expectations of growth in the first half of 1999 may be dashed," said Dan Scovel, chip analyst for Fahnestock & Co.

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